CLEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Study Guide 2023/2024

Prose --it's not poetry; it's what we write and speak most of the time in our everyday intercourse; it's unmetered unrhymed language although it can rhyme at times Language is phonic. What does phonic mean --of or relating to speech sounds Prose can be either fiction or nonfiction. What is fiction? What is nonfiction? -- Fiction is nonfactual (example: a novel or short story). Nonfiction is factual (example: an autobiography). Essays --are a separate subgenre; they are described as either expository(informative), argumentative(provoked), persuasive, critical(enlightened), narrative(acquainted with the writer who wishes to illustrate a point with his story); presents a relatively straightforward account of the writer's opinion(s) on an endless array of topic Satire --is a mode; it has to do with tone and purpose; it is the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc Truth --can be found in fiction and nonfiction; it is not genre specific Types of novels --detective, psychological, historical, regional, picaresque, Gothic, stream-of-consciousness novel, epistolary, etc Novel modes --realism, romanticism, impressionism, expressionism, naturalism, and neo-classicism Definition of novel --a rather long story, filled with many characters and subplots, interlaced with motifs, symbols, and themes, with time and space to develop interrelationships and to present descriptive passages Analyzing novels --What? Who? Why? Where? and How? What? --is the story, the narrative, the plot and subplots Stages of a story --introduction or exposition, complication, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement or conclusion What comprises the "real" or "significant" story --generally only one set of events Subplots and main plots --subplots often parallel or serve as counterpoints to the main plot line which serves to enhance the central story Parallels --sometimes involve reversals of characters and situations while creating similar yet distinct differences in the outcomes; makes understanding the major plot line less difficult The reason behind chapters --there is a reason for them; take note of what happens in the larger sections as well as the smaller sections; chapters sometimes alternates between the "real" story and the parallel story; try to notice the interrelationships Who? --the characters The characters --major and minor; dynamic(changes in a way that is significant to the story and static(do not change in significant ways); protagonist and antagonist agon --meaning struggle protagonist --the leading character; hero antagonist --a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another stock --a character who exists because the plot demands it; ex. a western with a gunman who robs the bank will require the banker's lovely daughter stereotype --some characters can be associated with stereotype; ex. a sheriff in a small Southern town or a librarian clucking over her prized books foils --some characters serve as foils for other characters enabling the readers to see one or more of them better allegorical characters --stand for qualities or concepts rather than for actual personages Why? --th